The present invention is generally directed to an adjustable fastener and, more particularly, to an adjustable hanger for removably attaching a photograph, painting, portrait or the like to a wall.
Generally speaking, adjustable fasteners, such as hooks or hangers, are well known. Individuals have long used various hooks or hangers to removably attach one item to another. For example, a multitude of hooks exist to assist individuals in attaching or mounting pictures, posters, photographs, mirrors and the like to a surface, such as a vertically-extending wall.
Adjustable fasteners have several advantages over a conventional nail that extends into a wall and a hanger that engages at least a portion of the nail and extends downwardly therefrom. Such simple, conventional fasteners make it difficult to hang two or more adjacent picture frames at the same height, especially if the back side of the frame includes a conventional generally horizontally-extending twisted metal wire. Another problem with such conventional fasteners is that it can be difficult for one individual to determine an appropriate height to hang a picture without several iterations of hammering the nail into the wall and removing the nail to adjust the height of the hanger. Adjustable fasteners can alleviate this “trial-and-error” approach of conventional fasteners that often unnecessarily results in multiple, unused punctures in the wall.
One prior art adjustable fastener that appears to overcome some of the above-described disadvantages of conventional fasteners is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0075211 (Potter). The adjustable hanger disclosed by Potter includes a slide member that is sized and adapted to be slidable received by a support member directly attached to a wall. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of Potter, the support member includes a plurality of holes which can accommodate fasteners, such as nails, screws or the like, to attach the support member to the wall.
Despite the advantages that the device of Potter provides over a conventional fastener, the device of Potter also includes several disadvantages. For example, any fastener extending through a hole in the support member may prevent the slide member from sliding therethrough if the fastener is not placed completely flush with the planar surface of the support member. As a result, the slide member may become stuck in the support member and/or the adjustable functionality of Potter may be prevented. In addition, the generally small slide member of Potter can be difficult to properly position within the support member, and/or it can be difficult for a user to locate or grasp the slide member of Potter when attached to a picture.
Therefore, it would be desirable to create an adjustable fastener that overcomes the above-identified disadvantages of conventional fasteners and the adjustable hanger of Potter. For example, it would be desirable to create an adjustable fastener in which a carriage is slidably mounted within a base, such that the carriage is larger than the base in at least one aspect thereof so that a user can easily grasp and manipulate the carriage. It would also be desirable to create an adjustable fastener which is readily able to be cut with conventional scissors, so that a user can selectively modify the adjustable fastener to be hidden behind a picture hung on a wall. In addition, it would be desirable to create a carriage and base combination in which a nail extending through the base, to attach the base to a wall, does not and cannot prevent the carriage from being slidable within the base. The present invention accomplishes the above objectives.